by Jake Bible
The Skrang all stood and began yelling and shouting at Roak.
"BE CALM!" Sha roared. The Skrang slowly calmed down and retook their seats. "Thank you. Pol?"
Ally was seated next to Roak and she took his hand in hers. She leaned over and whispered, "Listen. Just listen."
Roak started to reply, but Ally squeezed his hand and he shut his mouth. She smiled and nodded to Pol.
"Yes, as I was saying," Pol said and pointed to the holo. "The Skrang planet disappeared and no more than three days later almost all Skrang were under Father's control."
"Except for the two ships I had under my control," Sha said. "Pol?"
"Ah, yes, that is because I was lucky enough to be rescued by Sha Tog and his compatriots as I was beset upon down on Javsatem," Pol said.
"Because you were there to get a new body," Roak said.
"Precisely," Pol replied. "I, of course, knew about Outpost Hell and the AIs that had taken control of the facility. Their methods were a little brutal, but they had created technology I needed, so…"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"But Father tracked you there," Roak said.
"Oh, Heavens no," Pol said. "It was simple dumb luck. Wrong place at the wrong time. Or right place at the right time considering I was able to destroy all of the AI minds before Father could take them over. I shudder at the thought of what may have happened if he had gained control of that many artificially intelligent lifeforms."
"Father can't take over AIs," Roak said.
"In synthetic bodies, no," Pol said. "But he can corrupt the flesh so easily."
"How'd you stop him from corrupting you?" Roak asked, his eyes narrowed.
"I have my ways," Pol said.
"Pol developed tech that can block all comms," Gerber said. "Even the comms your Hessa developed."
"Saved my gump bacon," Pol said. "Unfortunately, I was not able to wipe out the mainframes before I was rescued by Sha Tog. Father accessed all of the AIs' research. Which, in hindsight, I believe he was after anyway. Taking control of the AIs would have only been a bonus."
"Oh dear," Hessa said from the ceiling's loudspeakers. "I think I know where this is going."
"Quite," Pol said. "By studying the research on AI to flesh interface, Father was able to boost his control from only implants to-"
"To a being's entire body," Roak said. "That's why Klib was under his influence even though she had Hessa's tech in her."
"Which brings up an interesting issue," Gerber said. "We were told what happened on Chafa and the way the controlled bodies there broke apart."
"They flat out dissolved, man," Yellow Eyes said.
"Until Hessa's implants were put in," Roak said. "Yeah, I've already had this thought."
"Something in Hessa's tech is compatible with Father's cellular control," Pol said. "Her tech stabilized the bodies and kept them from breaking apart. What we do not know is whether or not Father has duplicated Hessa's tech."
"He has not," Hessa said. "He can't."
"Why is that?" Pol asked.
"Because only I can build those implants," Hessa said.
"Yes, but-"
"There are no buts in this," Hessa said. "Only I can build that tech. It has to come from me or it does not work."
"And how do you know that for sure?" Pol asked. There was a glint in his eye that Roak did not like. "Hessa? All tech can be replicated if it is studied properly."
"Not mine," Hessa stated. "I'm the only one that can build it."
"We'll come back to that," Pol said. Pol grinned at Roak. While those seated at the table didn't flinch as if Roak had smiled, the tension did grow considerably. "It has come to my attention that you need me for something, Roak, hence your arrival at Javsatem. By the way, excellent deductive reasoning. I did not think anyone would track me there. Not even Father knew I was there at first."
"We had a hunch," Hessa said.
Pol's smile widened.
"I am sure you did," Pol said. "So, Roak, what do you need me for?"
"Other than all the chits you owe me?" Roak replied.
"Chits?" Pol laughed. "This cannot be about chits."
"I always get paid," Roak said.
"Roak does owe me a whole lot of chits," Ally said with a grin. "It'd be nice if he could pay me back."
"Yes, Roak always gets paid. We are all aware of this. The entire galaxy is aware of this," Pol said. "But chits are basically worthless now that the war between the Skrang Alliance and the Galactic Fleet has come to an end."
"It has?" Yellow Eyes asked then cringed at the looks he received. "Right. Yeah. It's totally at an end. Because, uh, because of…?"
"Father," Pol said.
"Because of that guy," Yellow Eyes said. "I hate that guy…"
"Roak?" Pol asked. "What can I do for you?"
"I need you to crack Bishop's quantum drives and get me some answers," Roak said.
"I can do that," Pol said. "What answers are you looking for?"
"Mother," Roak said. "I believe the location of Mother is somewhere in those drives."
"Interesting hypothesis," Pol said. "But there is only one problem with that thought."
"Only the one?" Sha asked.
"Yeah, I know," Roak said, ignoring Sha. "If Father had control of Bishop then he would have already had access to all of Bishop's files. If those files include the location of Mother then why would he ask me to take on the hunt to find her?"
"Precisely," Pol said. "I am guessing you have an answer?"
"Sure," Roak said. "He wants me to find Mother for myself, not for him. He knows where she is, but for some reason he can't get to her."
"Why can't he get to her?" Pol asked. He spread his arms. "He seems to be able to get to everyone, everywhere."
"That's why I need the drives cracked," Roak said.
"Which I will gladly do," Pol said, "when I am certain the drives are sequestered in a secure room where the data cannot corrupt this ship or any of our systems. No one likes a Trojan Horse."
"A what?" Yellow Eyes asked. "What's a Trojan? What's a horse?"
"Ignore him," Roak said.
"Ah, come on, man," Yellow Eyes grumbled. "Don't be like that."
"Does he know any other way to be?" Bhangul asked, the first time he'd spoken since sitting down. All eyes turned to him. "Never mind. Sorry to interrupt."
"You are the one that introduced Hessa to Roak, correct?" Pol asked.
"Yeah, so?" Bhangul replied.
"Oh, nothing, just making a mental note," Pol said. "We'll talk about your role more later. But, back to Roak. What else is it you need from me?"
"There's more?" Meshara asked.
"I need the new tech you developed," Roak said.
"Roak, we already have his new tech," Gerber interrupted. "And Pol has even fine-tuned the transport tech even further. What else is there?"
"The actual transport tech," Roak said and locked eyes with Pol. "You haven't told them?"
"I have not," Pol said with a sigh. "But I suppose I will have to now."
"No, let me," Roak said. "It took me a while to figure it all out. At first I thought that instantaneous galactic travel was all you were after. Then I found out you gave the tech to the GF. Just gave it to them."
"I wouldn't say he just gave it to us," Gerber said. "There were quite a few deaths involved and the issue of his stealing trillions upon trillions in fortunes from some very connected beings in this galaxy."
"He stole the credits just to mess with them," Roak said. "Pol doesn't need credits. Chits he can use to slip here and there, but credits are traceable. He was fucking with you."
Pol grinned even wider and that did cause a few beings to cringe.
"Do continue, Roak," Pol said and steepled his fingers. "I am enjoying this immensely."
"Then come to find out that the Skrang were given the same transport tech," Roak said. "That's interesting. I already knew what he was up to, but that only confirmed my suspicions."
<
br /> "Can we hurry this up?" Sha said. "We have a lot of planning to do before we can all take some needed rest."
"Keep your roller chair on, Sha," Roak said. "I'm getting to it."
"Maybe get to it a little faster," Ally suggested.
"You too?" Roak asked. Ally raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Instantaneous galactic travel. Yay for Pol. But the thing that bugged me was that you were near a black hole before you demonstrated it to the GF and all those elite assholes. Why a black hole?"
"Roak, you aren't suggesting…?" Hessa asked over only Roak's comm.
"I am," Roak replied. Everyone frowned and Roak waved them off. "The galaxy was one thing, but where you really wanted to go was a different universe."
"A different part of the universe?" Gerber asked.
"Outside of our galaxy?" Sha asked.
"Preposterous," Meshara hissed. "There is nothing in the other galaxies. Extensive research has shown they are void of intelligent life."
"No, not our universe," Roak said. "A different universe altogether. A parallel universe."
"One of many," Pol said in agreement, his smile beaming with joy.
"Not one of many," Roak said. "One specific universe. Father's universe."
The table erupted into shouts and pointing fingers and accusations, all aimed at either Roak or Pol.
"You really do have a gift for fucking with beings," Ally said to Roak. "Have you considered not fucking with beings?"
"Life is boring enough without taking that fun away," Roak said.
He stood and slammed his hands on the table. The chaos continued. So he pulled his Flott.
Everything went quiet and all eyes stared at the pistol.
"Roak…" Gerber warned. The members of Drop Team Zero had their weapons out and aimed at Roak. "Think this through."
"Just needed everyone to shut up," Roak said and holstered his Flott. He pointed a finger at Pol. "Am I wrong?"
"Not in the slightest," Pol said. "But you aren't quite right, either."
All eyes shifted fully on Pol.
"Talk," Gerber ordered.
"Yeah, I want to hear this too," Sha said.
"Everyone would like to hear this," Meshara said.
"Of course, of course," Pol said. He stood. "It is simple, really. I have been studying Father's influence on our universe, and our galaxy specifically, for several decades now. Before Roak and his siblings arrived here."
"How? Why?" Sha asked.
"The how is because I happened to have developed tech, although for different reasons, that was able to detect a tear between the universes," Pol said. "The why is because I was alerted to that tear between the universes. That was quite the alarming discovery."
"And you didn't think to alert the GF?" Gerber nearly shouted.
"I thought about it and could find zero reason to," Pol said. "What would the GF have done? They would have tried to imprison me and use my brain to study the tear for their own purposes. I am a dark tech for a reason, General Gerber. I do not enjoy being controlled."
"Stop interrupting the guy," Roak said.
"Thank you, Roak," Pol responded with a slight nod of his head. "But the real reason I wanted to study Father was not because he had created a tear between universes, but why he did it. So I sent some probes over."
"And how do you feel about that choice?" Roak asked.
"Yes, it may not have been the best idea," Pol admitted. "My probes were highly advanced. Unfortunately, only two of them returned. The data they had was exceptional, but the fact that the remaining probes were lost was troubling."
Pol shook his head and held up a hand.
"No, lost is not correct. They were taken and repurposed," he added. "Then they were returned to our universe. With cargo."
Pol smiled directly at Roak.
All eyes shifted from Pol to Roak.
"Well, all the Hells," Sha said. "That explains the not quite human part."
"Roak and his siblings are completely human," Pol said. "Humans from a different universe."
"Did you know that part?" Hessa asked Roak.
"No," Roak said.
"Oh, yes," Pol said. "Or were you responding to Hessa? Is she talking to you privately? I cannot wait to truly understand that tech."
"Not a chance," Hessa said through the loudspeakers.
"We'll see," Pol said. "Anyway, Father sent Roak over then he took up residence of his own here too. He raised the younglings, trained them to be the efficient hunters that they are, and-"
"Were," Roak said. "There's only me and Reck left."
"Very true," Pol said. "And very sad. When you went rogue and killed Father, although that turned out not to be quite true, you showed him that even he could not control your kind in this universe. He tried for decades, and almost succeeded, but then he gave up after you could not be brought back into the fold. I believe Father murdered your siblings, Roak."
"Probably," Roak said. "Sounds like something he'd do."
"Hold on," Gerber said. "Why would you want to transport over to Father's universe? What's the point in that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Pol replied. "To destroy the universe and seal the tear. It is the only way to keep our universe from being destroyed. Luckily, we may still have time."
"How much time?" Roak asked.
"Oh, a couple of months," Pol said. "At the most."
"Say what now?" Yellow Eyes exclaimed.
Roak smirked. The table winced. Then he smiled and started laughing. Even the Skrang looked upset by this display.
"I am not seeing the humor in this," Meshara said.
"Neither am I," Gerber said.
"Roak! Stop laughing!" Sha shouted. "It's disgusting…"
Roak slowly calmed down then nodded to Pol.
"You need Mother too," Roak said.
"I do," Pol agreed. "She's the key to destroying the other universe."
"I think you're right," Roak asked. "But let me ask you a question."
"Please do," Pol said.
"How much of my life have you been manipulating?"
"Oh, very little, Roak. A nudge here and a nudge there. Razer Station only happened because Father was becoming more aggressive. Otherwise our paths may never have crossed. At least not face to face."
Roak smacked the table again.
"Hessa? Do you have the drives ready?" Roak asked.
"I do, Roak. Shall I have some bots bring them to you?" Hessa answered.
"No, we'll come to the ship," Roak said. He held up a hand. "Just me and Pol. Alone."
More yelling and shouting. Roak ignored it all and focused only on Pol.
He smiled at the dark tech and the dark tech smiled back.
27.
"You have really upset everyone by excluding them from this process," Pol said as he took a seat in front of Bishop's quantum drives. "Gerber wants your head and so do the Skrang. Sha Tog is all that's keeping you alive right now."
"I'm pretty good at keeping myself alive," Roak said.
"Oh, that I am completely aware of," Pol said. "I would have preferred a sealed room, but Hessa has assured me this space is just as secure. Which, of course, intrigues me to no end."
"Get to work," Roak said.
Pol cracked his knuckles, studied the drives for a moment, then reached down to the floor and began separating tools from a compression pouch.
"Let's see now, what will I need?" he mused. "I highly doubt Father made this easy. I may have to interface directly with the drives in order to break through their security."
The drives were housed in an incredibly dense metal cube. Roak would be glad when they were finally open and he was going to be even more glad when they were off his ship.
"Interfacing with the drives directly is highly dangerous," Hessa warned. "Even for a being of your skills and abilities."
"Thank you for your concern, Hessa," Pol said.
"It is not concern," Hessa said. "We have gone through great trials and tribulations to get the qu
antum drives into your hands. If you are killed by them then everything will have been for nothing. That would be depressing."
"And then some," Roak agreed.
"Depressing…" Pol chuckled to himself. "Oh, what joy this all brings."
"Less joy, more cracking," Roak snapped. "Move ass, Pol."
"I hear your sister is even more bossy," Pol said. "I can only imagine what that is like. By the way, how is she? I can help with the prosthetics if you-"
"I have her recovery under control," Hessa said.
"I bet you do," Pol replied.
"How's it going in there?" Gerber yelled from outside the ship's cargo hold.
There was quite the crowd assembled in the hangar, all standing about ten meters away from the Borgon's open cargo ramp. It was the compromise Roak negotiated in order to keep the quantum drives on his ship.
"Move faster," Meshara hissed.
"I can close the cargo hold right now, beings," Roak snapped.
"Roak, need I remind you that-" Gerber began.
"Let the man do his thing," Yellow Eyes said. "It's best not to get in Roak's way."
"I have no idea what you are," Gerber said, "but you need to stop talking to me."
"Whatever you say, man," Yellow Eyes said and held up all his nubs in surrender.
"Ignore them," Roak said to Pol.
"Oh, I am, do not worry about that," Pol said, his hands running over the surface of the cube. "I am singly focused on one task."
"Roak?" Hessa called over the comm.
"Hmmm?" Roak replied. Pol gave him a quizzical look then nodded with comprehension.
"Reck is waking up," Hessa said. "I hate to pull you away from this, but…"
"I'll be right there," Roak said.
"Leaving?" Pol asked.
"I need to," Roak said. "And hovering over you won't make it go any faster, will it?"
"Not in the slightest," Pol replied. "Plus, you always have Hessa watching me."
"And don't forget it," Roak said. He stood and walked to the lift then stopped and spun about. "If you find anything, you tell me first. Understood?"
"Of course."
"No, I mean it. You do not say a word to anyone except for me."
"I already agreed to your terms, Roak. Go see to your sister."
